Mass Effect: Legend
by LaniZion
Summary: The war for Earth has concluded, but the crew of the Normandy soon learn that surviving the battle was only just beginning.  As they search for Shepard on an unknown planet, a survivor of the Crucible hunts for them.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Like many people, the ending of Mass Effect 3 has left me pretty conflicted and everything. So it led me to return to fanfiction and start up a new story. I hope you enjoy this take on the Mass Effect storyline. Naturally, there are spoilers for the trilogy. Hopefully, this is a great start to a great story.**

_**Mass Effect: Legend**_

_**Chapter One – The Prologue**_

Earth was the final battlefield, the place where it would all come to an end. Win or lose, the species living in Council Space and beyond united with the single-minded purpose of defeating the enemy. Much like the Turian's own home planet of Palaven, Earth had been ravaged and it would take decades of rebuilding to repair the damage and extreme loss of life that the Reapers had inflicted.

But whatever had happened, the war had indeed come to an end. Towering Reapers that once dominated the skies toppled over like dead husks, perhaps causing millions of credits in damages across the planet. But the war had ended.

Admiral Hackett, the leading commander of the Human Systems Alliance and perhaps the only leader left amongst the ruin of the besieged planet, surveyed the damage left behind by the Sovereign-class Reaper, the one referred to as Harbinger. The massive Reaper was nowhere to be seen and there had been reports that it was in the process of exiting orbit when everything happened.

He wasn't even entirely sure what had happened. The last half hour of battle had been a confused mess, and it started with that damn Reaper firing on the group making a dash towards the Conduit.

Everything had gone straight to hell after that.

He glanced up at the smoky night skies from the bombed out command center. The shadowy outline of the Citadel could no longer be seen and the sights of faint explosions and weapons fire had all but died out in the empty space above the Earth.

"By the goddess…where is everyone?" the asari, Liara T'Soni, had murmured at his side.

"The Normandy had taken off a long while ago. Perhaps they were going to rescue Shepard once the Crucible was fired."

"Admiral, can we arrange a search party?"

Admiral Hackett turned back to the war table. "Right now, trying to figure out what has happened is the best thing we can do. Communications are still down and I don't want to risk losing any more lives than we have to. For now, the best thing we can do is sit tight and try to make sense of things."

"I think that is a fine thought, Admiral," the Prothean, Javik, said aloud.

It still unnerved Hackett to think that an actual live Prothean was standing here in his command center. The galaxy really could be surprising, even to an experience soldier as he. To receive a nod of support from the last remaining member of a species that had been wiped out 50,000 years ago, and a seasoned commander at that, bolstered Hackett's resolve. Everything in his heart told him to arrange a search party and figure out what the hell happened with Shepard and Anderson. But first thing was to reestablish communications.

The various races and groups on and around Earth had joined to fight for Shepard. Hackett knew that the commander was the glue that held them all together. He couldn't be sure of what would happen if they couldn't take control of the situation. The mercenaries that Aria T'Loak and the Batarian fleets were his biggest concerns. "Dr. T'Soni, is there anybody left behind from the Normandy's original crew?"

Her eyes went to the floor. "I didn't even know that the Normandy had taken off. With the exception of myself and Javik, I think the crew took off."

"We had better hope to take control of this situation soon, then."

Xxx

"Where the hell are we?" an agitated Ashley Williams looked to her crew mates for answers. Their expressions were just as confused as hers.

Thick vegetation was everywhere. The rocks she stood on. The vast endless forests ahead of her. Wherever they were, it sure as hell wasn't any planet she had visited in the past. She looked to Tali for answers.

The quarian was typing on her omni-tool. It was hard to discern her expression behind that thick blue mask covering her face, but Ashley could see her pale eyes scanning the device frantically.

After a long moment of silence, Tali shook her head.

"My omni-tool isn't working. But…I did find something weird."

"What? What is it?" Ashley asked her.

"Um…if what I picked up is right, Shepard is here on this planet."


	2. The Unknown, Part One

_**Chapter Two: The Unknown, Part One**_

_The place was like a beehive – a mechanical, eerie beehive. The Collectors' base was odd and there was no telling how much danger was coming their way. This had all the markings of a suicide mission. Commander Shepard knew this, but the reality had never hit until now. With his crew backing him, he moved further along the long walk. The smell of blood had grown considerably with the scent of metallic substances. He had nearly considered going back to the Normandy to grab his helmet to get past the smell._

_ "Shepard," Miranda called out to him._

_ Behind her, an amber pod sat glued to the wall. A human body was inside._

_ A very familiar human body._

_ "It's Yeoman Chambers," the Cerberus operative said. "Do you think she's dead?"_

_ Shepard hoped she wasn't. He approached the pod. The redhead was in a vertical position, her eyes closed, but as far as he could tell, there was nothing holding her weight or keep her suspended. It was just further proof that the Collectors used technology far above those of the known species._

_ His crew had been abducted. They waited long enough for him to arrive. He placed his hand against the rough surface of the pod._

_ It was thick. Gunfire might be able to break it, but he didn't want to kill her. And he didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention. Not just yet, not while they still had to get the rest of the crew to safety._

_ "Shepard-Commander…additional humans," went the geth, Legion._

_ Indeed, there had been more humans in similar pods in the massive area where they stood. All members of the crew of the Normandy. They were here. Perhaps too coincidentally. His heart raced as he considered the possibility that his crew members were already dead – it would explain their lack of motion._

_ Then suddenly, Kelly moved. Or rather, she opened her eyes and freaked out._

_ "Oh my god! She's still alive!"_

_ Her screams were muffled, but he could tell that she was yelling as loud as humanly possible to escape her prison. Panic gave way to action and Shepard pulled at the lid of the pod, his heart hoping to free the trapped yeoman. If there was an opening, the commander couldn't find one. He was about to tell Kelly to calm down when he saw something that disturbed him on a primal level._

_ Blood._

_ He had seen a lot of blood in his time, but the way Kelly's blood splattered against the pod had sent a shock through his body. The blood was coming from below the knees. Indecision paralyzed the commander as Kelly Chambers literally melted before his eyes. The splatter of blood could not hide the horrors as his yeoman was reduced to a pile of liquid red goo…_

The terrifying dream shook him awake. Green leaves were the first sight to greet Shepard as his senses slowly came back to him. He could hear the chirping all around him. The heat from the sun had warmed his flesh. The only discomfort was the hard surface he was laying on.

Oh, and the pain.

The pain was something else to deal with. Every part of his body brimmed with agony. His skin, his muscles, his bones…

Memories came flying back to him. Only minutes before, Shepard was a dead man standing as the manifestation of the Catalyst explained to him the choices laid out before him. For a synthetic being responsible for controlling the Reapers in destroying all civilized life every 50,000 years, it was remarkably accepting in defeat, something that Shepard had not expected.

He was expecting a fight.

Not an admission of defeat and a question of choice.

Shepard knew what his choice was going to be.

It did not explain why he was lying on some hard surface and baking in the sun instead of dying on the Citadel with…with…

"Admiral Anderson…"

A shadow had formed over him, probably a cloud. The commander closed his eyes and replayed his last moments with Anderson. The man was a true soldier, fighting to protect everything he believed in. And the Council did not see it fit to announce this man as a Spectre, as the first human Spectre. Shepard knew he owed everything to this man, this pinnacle of military achievement.

He did not believe for a second that the Admiral had died on the Citadel. Anderson was far too strong and proud to be killed while sitting down. He wouldn't…

Shepard thought he was hyperventilating, until his held his breath.

The thick breathing continued.

And it was getting heavier by the second.

Shepard opened his eyes. That thick shadow was still hanging above him, except it wasn't a shadow. It was a figure. His vision blurred ever so slightly as he tried to discern who it was. It looked a little familiar.

"Wrex? Where are we?"

The features of the krogan sharpened a little, so much that Shepard could see that whomever it was standing over him was not Urdnot Wrex, the proud krogan warrior. It wasn't even a krogan that was standing over him. Not with four pairs of crimson eyes staring back at him. And certainly not with a triangular mouth that covered half of its face.

"Oh, crap," Shepard gritted through his teeth.

The yahg roared as his tri-fingered hands wrapped around Shepard's limp form.

The commander threw a limp punch, straining through the burning pain as his bloodied hand struck the yahg on the forehead.

It responded in a deep voice. "I will break you in half out here, Shepard, if you do not settle down. We don't need you alive."

Every part of him screamed to fight back. The last yahg he met went berserk after Liara's revelation. And that fight was difficult enough even when he wasn't injured. Death was surely waiting for him, probably taking bets on what moment he was going to finally cross over to the other side. There were red flags everywhere, but the yahg didn't kill him and he spoke.

"How the hell do you know my name?" Shepard had said before he had time to think about it.

"We know more about the universe than you think. We did until several months ago, Shepard," the yahg started walking towards the endless expanse of forest.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're dying, and yet you're still hanging on. This is an opportunity for us…mutually beneficial."

Shepard felt like a child being carried in the arms of this predator. He wanted to squirm out of this creature's arms; it would be a godsend to have a medi-gel right now. His skin burned with all sorts of pain – the little bit he could see from the scorched remains of his clothes told him that scarring was more than just possible.

"What is this mutual beneficial thing you're talking about?"

The yahg took a long moment before answered. "We were being fed important information about the universe. And then the one who was supposed to lead us sent a message that the great Commander Shepard and his asari compatriot had been the first ones to find him. Now we receive no messages, so we can only assume that you killed him."

The Shadow Broker was feeding his people information. Somehow, that didn't seem to vibe with typical behavior that Shepard normally associated with information specialists, but then, Shepard really knew nothing about the Shadow Broker. Whatever information they had was kept with Liara T'Soni, and she had grown considerably more secretive since becoming the new Broker.

The yahg stopped to look down at Shepard. "We would like an audience with the Council…to declare that we yahg are not like the krogan. We know that you are their paragon and we want Parnack to become recognized in Citadel space."

"Why is this important to you? Why can't you just request it yourself?"

Shepard didn't know that yahg could smile – he didn't even think they were capable of it. But the expression on this one's face was obviously joyful. "Because the truth is, it's time we became part of the galactic community. By force or otherwise."

"Be realistic," Shepard told him. "You don't even have a military to fight in Council space. Hardly anybody knows of your existence except the salarians, and even then, you're nothing but experiments to them."

The massive hand curled over Shepard's abdomen, sending a shockwave of agony through his body. "You're not in a position to talk of us in that manner. We are using you as a hostage. A dying hostage…and you will be of value to us either way. Cooperate, and we'll let you breathe just a little bit longer," as if for emphasis, the yahg activated the medi-gel from his omni-tool. "We yahg are a lot more advanced than your Council people seem to give us credit for. They cannot afford to tell us we cannot join their community. And if they do, we will kill their paragon and ensure that they receive the message as we desecrate your corpse."

* * *

><p>Ashley stood watch at the docking entrance of the Normandy. This was too dangerous, far too dangerous to be sitting in one place on an unknown planet in the middle of nowhere. This was beyond crazy. As she looked through the scope of her M-99 Saber assault rifle, she could almost feel the presence of something coming up behind her.<p>

"Vega?"

"As usual, Commander," Shepard's impromptu protégé went, stepping out onto the rocky surface.

Ashley kept her light armor on, but James had donned his full uniform – heavy blue armor with two visors for each eye connecting at the back of his head. He was ready for combat, a near certainty for a crewmember of the Normandy. Honestly, this ship had to have been through more combat than the combined Fleets of the Alliance.

"Joker says he needs you inside. I got this, Commander."

"Stop calling me that," she said with a hint of aggression. Every reminder of Shepard was bound to infuriate her. Ever since Tali's omni-tool picked up Shepard, they'd been frantically trying to repair whatever the hell was wrong with the Normandy.

"Roger that, Spectre."

"Smart ass," she said without the joking tone.

Quietly, she clipped her weapon to her back and went to the cockpit. Joker and Tali were frantically typing at the cockpit controls. It was difficult without AI assistance. EDI hadn't woken up since they escaped the explosion coming from one of the mass relays. Her visor was barely operational, so that meant that she wasn't fully dead. Joker was agitated, but it didn't stop him from working frantically at the controls.

"You need me for something, Joker?"

"Yeah, our signals are being jammed by something, but I don't know what yet. It's pretty powerful, might be something to do with this planet."

Ashley bit her lip. "What about getting the Normandy operational?"

It was Tali's turn to speak. "The engineers are working on it, I'm about to join them and hopefully we can figure out some way to get the drive core to reactivate without blowing up."

"And Shepard?"

She shook her head. "I can't get any read of his position anymore. If EDI were awake, she could-"

"EDI isn't awake, so we'll just have to do without her, ok?" Joker butted in.

Tali sighed heavily. "I'll head down to see Adams. Maybe we can try something new."

"I'll come with you. Joker, keep working hard, ok?"

There was no reply.

The quarian went along with Ashley; the two of them walked in silence towards the elevator. The crew was absolutely silent. Nobody had expected any of this to happen. All in all, there were two dead crew members from the crash – they insisted on improperly strapping themselves in during Joker's warning of an imminent crash. For now, their bodies were placed in med bay with Dr. Chakwas, but there was no telling how long they would be stranded here. It was an uncomfortable feeling to have two corpses on board the ship.

"Is Joker going to be alright?" Tali asked at the elevator.

"I'm not sure I'm going to be alright…" she admitted. "None of us have really had time to take any of this in. And-"

A buzzing horn sounded off from outside of the ship.

Ashley's heart leapt in her chest.

"Oh God…"

She'd been scared before – there had been many times since the geth arrived that she had been truly scared out of her wits. But she swallowed that fear and turned her worries into aggression. It was what had kept her alive so far, what propelled her to keep pushing onward, despite overwhelming odds. If Shepard could survive the massacre of Akuze, then she could surely survive lesser odds against enemies that she could certainly kill.

Even the war with the Reapers was a terrifying experience.

With hopelessness everywhere and Cerberus hounding them at every step, Ashley dug down and found the will to fight this war.

But this time, hopelessness began to settle in her heart. Shepard was missing. The Normandy was down. They were trapped.

The buzzing horn went off once more.

She leapt to her feet and sprinted towards the cockpit, her heart pounding hard against her chest. James was already there, his expression meeting hers. She was sure he was thinking the same thing as she had been.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Joker trailed off as he slumped back in his seat.

Ashley glanced out of the window and saw it.

The massive ship had floated past the Normandy and landed several miles ahead of them. Its large tentacle legs stomped out a few of the tall trees.

"A Reaper…how? I thought the Crucible was fired?" James asked.

Ashley had no answers. Only questions. "That's…the Reaper that has been hounding Shepard for a long time now. That's Harbinger."


	3. The Unknown, Part Two

_**Chapter Three: The Unknown, Part Two**_

There was no mistaking the terrifying call of the Reaper hovering over the thick greenery over their heads. Shepard recognized this particular machine almost immediately – it had been hounding him for over two years and it nearly killed him not too long ago. Harbinger was here.

The yahg had paused to stare up at the marvel of synthesis.

An opportunity presented itself. The medi-gel had done enough for Shepard to reel his fist back. "Hey," he said from his cradled position, letting his fist fly. It wasn't his best effort, but the yahg stumbled back, dropping the commander. Shepard landed on his back and stayed there just long enough to hear the growl in the yahg's voice. He moved to his feet and leapt away from an arching fist that shook the ground.

"Crap."

The yahg bounded towards his former prey.

Shepard took off to his right, ignoring the massive arm that came swinging in his direction. His body screamed in agony. The omni-gel didn't work as well as he'd initially thought. Thundering steps pounded behind him as Shepard plunged head first into the thick vegetation, caring little about which direction he was headed in. He could hear the yahg keeping chase behind him – fortunately, the alien didn't deem it necessary to unload any gunfire at him.

Harbinger's mechanical roar shook Shepard's bones.

Then came a succession of five energy blasts, all of them tearing through the forest trees next to him.

"Shepard!"

Shepard slowed only for a moment to see the yahg behind him being evaporated in a blast of Harbinger's energy. His heart pounded even louder as he tried willing his legs to move even faster. Harbinger might have been tracking him somehow. The thought pushed Shepard to move his hurt legs. He didn't think he would be able to survive another grazing shot.

"Damn!" he screamed out in frustration, going deeper into the forests.

* * *

><p>The turian stood in the air lock, calmly sighting down the scope of his sniper rifle. The worry that filled him as Harbinger unloaded blast after repeated blast into the forests was making him restless, and he didn't like the odds of sitting here.<p>

With their entire electronic systems still acting up, they couldn't tell where in the galaxy they were and the mood on the ship was growing tenser by the second. The humans were also restless, and the energy was slowly building into something that could be very dangerous if the acting commander couldn't find a way to displace their anger and fears in a hurry. She was doing very well, but he could tell that she was beginning to lose herself. A matter of minutes had turned Ashley into an angry wreck, and Harbinger's attack on Shepard's position wasn't helping with that.

He knew what was going through her head, because it was also running through his mind. Rescue Shepard. The crew had been split up to help with the repairs of the Normandy, but the soldiers who had fought on the ground at Shepard's side were aching to run this suicide mission. The problem with these suicide missions was the probability of death was exceptionally high. Tali came up with the theory that Harbinger was tracking Shepard's omni-tool, and if it tracked him to the Normandy, it wouldn't hesitate to kill them all.

Hopefully, Shepard wouldn't use his brain this one time and toss the omni-tool away. They'd really be screwed, then.

The sound of a boot caused him to turn around. Ashley was standing there. "Are you ready, Garrus?"

What could be described as a smirk crossed Garrus' features. "I was wondering if you would ever ask me. Are we ready for this?"

James Vega stepped next to Ashley. "Loco's brought our asses out of the fire enough times…time to bring him back."

Ashley nodded. "Let's go before that Reaper takes away our chance. I think we've been waiting long enough."


End file.
